Unlike Freud, Jung did not view the incest impulse from a
literal perspective, although he could not avoid remarking on the
concrete way children express it (in CW 17, ‘Psychic conflicts in a
child’). However, he saw incest FANTASY as a complicated METAPHOR
for a path of psychological growth and development (see ACTING
OUT; ENACTMENT). His ideas both applied and extended the work of
the anthropologist/analyst Layard (1945, 1959).
Jung’s view is that when a child experiences incestuous feelings or
fantasies, he or she can be seen as attempting unconsciously to add
enriching layers of experience to his or her personality by close
emotional contact with the parent (see TELEOLOGICAL POINT OF
VIEW). The sexual aspect of the incestuous impulse ensures that the
encounter is deep and meaningful – sexual feelings cannot be ignored.
The incest taboo prevents physical expression, however, and has its
own psychological purpose (see below).
When an adult regresses in an incestuous manner, he can be seen
as attempting to recharge his batteries, to regenerate himself spiritually
and psychologically. REGRESSION has, therefore, to be valued
as something more than an EGO defence. For an adult, incestuous
regression need not necessarily be towards a particular figure or
IMAGE, though it often is (as in a ‘crush’) . The state in which a
person finds him or herself also signals such regression: serene, floating,
dreamy, at one. This is the state of the mystic or the creative
reverie which those who study the processes of artists have noted.
Out of the temporary giving up of adult ego-ic behaviour comes
a new and refreshing encounter with the internal world and with the
grounds of being. For a child (or for an adult fixated incestuously on
one person), the sexual element is a symbolic entry to such a state
and its rewards. Reflecting upon the symbolism, the two bodies
which might engage in the sex act represent different parts of the
psyche which are not, as yet, integrated. Intercourse marks such
integration and the baby which might result symbolises growth and
regeneration (see ALCHEMY; SYMBOL).
Sometimes incestuous regression becomes a search for a different
kind of oneness – power and control over others. Jung stressed that
it was vital to emerge from the state of merger with a parent (see
IDENTITY; PARTICIPATION MYSTIQUE). This is both an ordinary developmental
task and, for an adult, a necessary confrontation with adult
realities. Luckily, there are disadvantages in the state of oneness; it

may be felt as dangerously devouring and unending (see DEATH INSTINCT;
GREAT MOTHER) .
.Tung developed these ideas on incest from a man’s point of view
(CW 5), in terms of incestuous entanglement with, or regression to,
the mother. There is no reason why the model should not apply to
the daughter’s relationship with her father. For a girl, this implies
that she has to experience a deep connection to her father that has
an erotic tone. For the adult woman, her experience may take the
form of a kind of paternal regression. But what if this symbolically
eroticised relation fails to take place? Then a father cannot, as it
were, initiate his daughter into a deeper psychology for she will be
too distant from him for their relationship to have a profound effect
on her (see INITIATION).
The father could not be more different from the daughter; he is
male and from another generation (see OPPOSITES). This gives him
potential for stimulating an expansion and deepening of her personality.
But he is also part of the same family as his daughter; and this
makes him ‘safe’ as far as physical acting out is concerned. Yet, the
familial and loving link encourages an emotional investment in his
daughter’s maturation while father/daughter union is prohibited.
Cases of actual incest result when the symbolic nature of these
interactions is bypassed, perhaps because of unresolved incestuous
longings on the part of the father. Equally damaging to the psychosexual
development of the child is erotic withdrawal or indifference
on the part of the parent. This is perhaps a greater problem for girls
than for boys. The mother will have experienced and become accustomed
to a close, physical contact with her children with its attendant
excitement. The father may find this kind of experience with a
daughter too much to bear and repress the eroticism – displaying a
mockery of her sexuality or setting far too rigid boundaries for it.
There may also be a greater cultural inhibition as well, i.e. men may
be barred from emotional expression.
The incest taboo was given a specifically psychological value and
function by Jung. This is in addition to his recognition of its role in
the maintenance of a healthy SOCIETY – marital relationships have to
be outside the designated family lest CULTURE itself stagnate or regress.
But it would be a mistake to see the incest taboo as an encultured
or! SUPER-EGO prohibition against a ‘natural’ incest impulse.
The incest impulse and the incest saboo are natural to each other.
To respond only to the taboo but ignore the impulse may well
suggest to us a frustration-based boost to CONSCIOUSNESS which will
be spurious, desiccated, intellectual. On the other hand, to act on the
impulse and ignore the taboo leads to a focus on short-lived pleasure
and the exploitation of the child’s vulnerability by the parent. How-

ever, in cases of incest, the child may be capitalising on his or her
more than special relationship to a powerful figure.
We might add that it is one function of the incest taboo to force
an individual to consider with whom he mayor may not mate. He
has, therefore, to regard a potential mate as an individual. The
moment choice is limited, choice is highlighted (and this is true even
in a system of arranged marriages). The incest taboo, thought of like
this, underpins I-Thou relating (R. Stein, 1974).
In ANALYSIS, feelings of sexual attraction between ANALYST AND
PATIENT occur in very many instances. Jung’s ideas about the psychological
aspects of incest fantasy may be used in addition to understandings
of Oedipal dynamics to underscore the symbolic aspects of
the feelings, leading to a lessening of the possibility ,of hurtful acting
out. But the goal is not merely to assist the analyst’s a-dherence to
the rule of abstinence. For, locked up in what might seem to be an
infantile sexualisation of a state of mind, may be the seeds of important
psychological development.
See ENERGY; PSYCHOANALYSIS.